Bugging-machine.



M. HARMON.

BUGGING MACHINE.

APPUCATIMI FILED lull! 20. Hill. 1,242,546. Patanted Oct. 9.1917.

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M. HARMON.

BUSHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mm IUNE 20.1911.

1,242,546. Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

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ffariz'zz fzarmonsrlkulk M. HARMON.

BUGGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20. I917. 1,242,546. Patented Oct. 9,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

t, j .i :1. f 1 WITLMESSES I g. 1. :L. f 5 WEN-TUE I 15 Q Mar 0? Harmon a? M M their bearings and may be shifted horizontally back and forth by the oscillating angle 8, the vertical leg of which is confined between the collars c, c, on each shaft 15. By this means the pinions 14:, 14', may be disengaged from the gears l3, 13, when the machine is being moved from place to place but is not operating.

Secured to the forward end of the frame F are guide bars 28, 28, adapted to pass freely through U-shaped guides 29, 29; and pivotally connected to each bar 28 is one end of a toggle lever 30. Pivotally secured to the bolster l on the outside of each bar 28 is a lever 31, said lever being coupled by a pin 32 to a lever 30 and forming a toggle joint therewith. A roller tlil is mounted on the pin 32, and a roller 34 is mounted on a pin 35 projecting from the lever 30 at about the middle. The upper run of the chain 26 passes over the roller 33 and the lower run of said chain passes over the roller -54, said rollers taking up the slack of the chain when the frame F is raised or lowered (Fig. 5) as presently to be described. Mounted between a pair of brackets d, d, secured to the frame F along a central line between the angles 1, 1, is a roller curtain C disposed over the ridge of the arched apron a and adapted to be raised or lowered depending upon the position of the frame F.

In the operation, the machine is drawn between the rows of potato plants so that two rows are spanned by the wheels W, the rear wheel 11 traveling in the furrow between the two rows thus spanned, while the heaters 16 are in contact with the plants. The shift lever 9 is then placed in the position shown, (Fig. 2) the pinions 14 engaging the gears 13 whereby upon advancing the-machine, the shafts 15 and boaters 16 rotate in a direction (see arrows in Fig. 3) to cause the bottom blades of the heaters to engage or impinge against the plants and beat the bugs from them. The bugs then fall into the frame F and are guided by the aprons a, b, to the rollers r, r, between which they are crushed since the upper peripheries of the latter are caused to rotate toward each other by the gears g, g, chain 26 and sprockets 25, 27. The aprons a, I), also act as scrapers to remove the crushed bugs from the rollers.

The roller curtain G acts as a partition wall through the center of the machine and prevents the heaters from knocking the bugs over the frame F, as they will impinge on the curtainand drop down into said frame. A bentguard G mounted across the rear end of the rollerframe F prevents the bugs from crawling out-of the fra'meas they will crawl up the=guard and finally get to the depending edge thereof from which point they will fall back into the frame and again land on the a'prons a, b.

In operating the machine or in moving it from place to place it may be desirable to raise or lower the roller frame F to allow for the contour of the ground. Since the said frame is suspended by the chains 20, 20, passing over the pulleys 21, 23, and from the pulley 21 to the lower end of the lever 18, it is obvious that by oscillating the lever 18 either forward or backward, the chains may be either released or pulled up and the frame F lowered or raised as desired. However, some provision must be made for taking up or letting out the drive chains 26 between the s n-ockets 25 and 27. This is done by means of the rollers 33, 34, mounted on the levers 3U, 31, arranged as toggles as explained above and shown in l igs. 3 and 5 (full and dotted positions).

lt is within the purview of the skilled mechanic to vary the construction from that here shown without departing from the spirit of the invention, the present form having been adopted since it is simple and has proven satisfactory in practice. Parts shown but not described are well understood and need no description in this connection.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a potato bugging machine, a main frame, a pair of independent axles secured thereto, drive gears on said axles, longitu dinally extending shafts rotatable in the frame, heaters on the shafts, pinions on said shafts meshing with the drive gears, a vertically adjustable roller-frame suspended from the main frame, a pair of crushing rollers in the roller-frame, one roller of each pair being provided with a sprocket wheel, said sprocket being engaged by a chain which also engages a drive sprocket on the longitudinal shaft aforesaid, and a toggle provided with a pair of rollers each of whlch is traversed by one lap of the chain aforesaid, said toggle being adapted to take up the slack of the chain upon adjusting the roller-frame.

2. In a machine of the character described, a movable frame, toggle-levers having one member hinged to a fixed support, the opposite member being pivotally secured to the frame, crushing rollers in the frame, drivechains for actuatingsaid rollers, and means interposed between the toggle-levers and the drive-chain for causing the chain to conform to the movements of the frame.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN HARMON.

Witnesses:

EMIL STABEK, Jos. A. MICHEL.

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